Father upset teacher accused of raping his daughter set free

A Middle Tennessee father is demanding justice after his daughter died and now the rape case against her high school teacher was thrown out of court.

Jamie James said he is disappointed that no one is fighting for his daughter, disappointed that her accused attacker gets a clean slate and disappointed that soon he could end up right back in the classroom.

"Our lives are all less without her," James said.

His daughter was raped and now her alleged attacker is off the hook.

"There's no way to try and explain the heartbreak, the anger with the system, the feeling that she was discounted somehow," James said.

Investigators say Shane Bishop, a former Dickson County teacher and football coach, was accused of having sex with the 17-year-old girl several times in Bellevue.

But, in July, the teen died. Her parents don't want to talk about how, but they do want to talk about the fact that her accused rapist is a free man.

In a statement, Bishop admitted to sending inappropriate messages to the teen but denied the rest.

Prosecutors say without her here to tell her story, there's just not enough to convict Bishop of any crimes. They say they had no other option but to dismiss the case.

As for DNA evidence, the prosecutors did have a pair of shorts and underwear that they say had DNA from both the victim and Bishop. But without the victim to tell investigators how that DNA got there, the evidence was thrown out.

The teen had planned to testify on six counts of statutory rape and one count of sexual battery.

She can't do that anymore.

"She's been treated as an object by him and by the system," James said.

And her father is terrified there could be other victims.

"That's the concern that we carry on, is the concern that she had, that he's going to be allowed back in the classroom with access to other young girls and perhaps do this again. We are concerned for the potential for that," James said.

Bishop's attorney said he did not want to comment for this story.

James said he is now reaching out to lawmakers, seeking a change in state laws so that future cases like his daughter's do get prosecuted.